Northwood High School in Irvine has an atheist club.
Who knew?
Backyard Skeptics knew, and the Orange County group of non-believers joins the club in Northwood High's auditorium this afternoon to discuss their views on godlessness.
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Founded by Bruce Gleason, Backyard Skeptics is among the 14 groups that recently put a billboard up in Westminster informing fellow atheists they are not alone. Joseph Suh, president of Northwood High's atheist club, boasts 40 members even thought the high school group only formed three months ago.
So, why the get-together? Gleason explained in an email:
Many
churches around the country tend to demonize persons of non-belief. This discussion between atheists and
believers will increase the understanding of different belief system through a
civil discourse. Bruce Gleason believes that if two diametrically opposed
viewpoints are understood, the tolerance is increased and each viewpoint can be
more respected by each side. The result
is a more peaceful world through communication and mutual respect. The opinions might be different, but the de-demonizing
of non-believers decreases the possible mis-communication and misconceptions which
people have against non-theists.
The discussion begins at 4 p.m.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.